


Forgotten Scars

by Up_In_Flames



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-15 12:43:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18499216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Up_In_Flames/pseuds/Up_In_Flames
Summary: In a world where every person you love leaves a physical mark on your skin how do you hide it from someone you're scared of losing? - I really suck at summaries. A High School AU in which love appears as a physical scar on the skin and Axel and Roxas have a messed up friendship and relationship. Side-ship of Sora and Riku to make it through the angst.





	1. Waiting for Sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor will I ever own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters from the series. They belong to Square-Enix and Disney, I am only using them for entertainment purposes. 
> 
> Trigger Warning: Physical Abuse, Implied Sexual Abuse

In our world there is this concept of soul mates, someone whom you find and connect with on such a level that to be separated from them would cause physical pain. However, there’s a catch. Every time you fall in love, that love manifests itself physically upon your skin. We do not know when this began, or why. These “love scars” as they’re referred to have three stages.

The first stage appears with a slight sting, almost like a paper cut, a small, deep red line appearing somewhere on your body. For some it appears on the arms, on others it can be their neck, chest or even on the leg. These red lines indicate that that person has fallen in love, though it may not be requited.

The second stage feels like it’s burning. As if someone has taken a red-hot branding iron to your skin, imprinting you forever as their own. This is when those deep red scars become almost jet black, looking as if to be a fresh tattoo though their colour does not fade over time. It is a rarity in and of itself as this only occurs when your love is requited, however, the object of your affections may still only have a red scar.

If the love is requited and acknowledged, both parties will have those jet-black scars, a symbol of their love for one another. However, some people never even realise whom their scar is for and remain with only deep red for their entire lives.

The third, and quite frankly saddest, stage is the most painful of all. It feels as though someone has not only sliced you open with a scalpel but simultaneously reached in and ripped your heart out of your chest, breaking your ribs in the process and leaving you unable to breathe. Your scar then appears to be what it truly is, an ugly, open scar, as if you have tried to cut the previous scar out of your skin. This occurs rarely and when it does, everyone around you can only feel pity. This final stage occurs when your soulmate has died. Some people that have experienced it compare the pain to as if they were feeling their lovers last moments.

Some people go through their whole lives without ever receiving a scar. Some are so willing and giving of their love that they have a littering of both red and black scars. And others, the unlucky ones, only ever have one scar that is now a reflection of their love lost.

In a society where your love for someone is openly reflected on your body, it can cause a lot of conflict, but also bring a lot of comfort.

On a sleepy island, isolated from any town or city except for a ferry that comes to the port twice a day. Waves crash silently over the white sand of the shore line. A beautiful brown bricked house shadows over the shore line from the crest of a hill looking down upon it.

Sunlight filters through delicate lace curtains, light casting over pale skin and honey blonde hair. Cerulean eyes open slowly at the offending light, eyes wandering left and right, searching. Searching over plain grey sheets but for what the blonde is uncertain.

The alarm clock beside the bed displays the time as a little after six in the morning, the blonde rarely sleeps past sunrise. Joints click as air escapes them and they pop back in to place, arms stretching out to remove any last traces of sleep from his small body. The boy swings his legs over the edge of the bed, his feet silently falling into plush carpet as he brings himself into an upright position.

He stretches his lithe frame once more, raking a hand shakily through unruly spikes whilst stifling a yawn. _Time to start a new day_ the boy thinks to himself. The blonde makes his way downstairs, their home is nothing overly lavish but above the median house price. The ground floor consists of a double garage, formal lounge room, open planned kitchen, dining and rumpus space and a large office. Upstairs houses the master bedroom and ensuite which encompass the entire width of the house, a second bathroom and three bedrooms.

As the blonde rounds the corner towards the kitchen his eyes meet another pair just the same striking blue as his own. The boy sitting before him at the kitchen island is a lithe brunette with unruly spikes worse than that of the blonde. The brunette grins before shaking the cereal box in front of him,  
“come and get it, Roxy” the boy teases as the blonde sleepily walks behind the island to pull out a bowl of his own, making his way to the fridge in a similar state before sitting next to his brother and pouring a bowl of the too sweet cereal they share.

“It feels weird starting the school year without mom and dad here doesn’t it?” the blonde boy, Roxas, nods in response to his brother’s statement. It’s not that their parents don’t want to be present, but they must work to provide the twins with a home and all the comforts they could want. It’s just too bad that they work hundreds of miles of away* and rarely make it home. “Come on, So, we’ve gotta get ready if we’re gonna make it to school on time.” The two boys trudge up the stairs together hand in hand before parting to prepare for the school day.

The shrill ringing of the school bell causes dual groans between the twins as they trudge through the wrought iron gates of Destiny Islands High School. With a quick see ya later the boys part ways to enter their respective home room classes. As Roxas pushes through the heavy classroom door he’s greeted to whispering and giggling from the students already inside. Shaking his head, the blonde heads quietly to the back of the room, taking the farthest seat in the corner and pulling out his copy of Anna Karenina whilst the rest of the room around him continues to whisper.

Roxas keeps to himself in class, both his mind and body not allowing him to participate or even interact with his fellow classmates beyond a simple “hello”. Everything seems to blur past him as he remains, silent and alone, stuck inside his own thoughts without a care for those around him or what they’re doing. Mild depression, that’s what the counsellor keeps telling him and yet he doesn’t feel depressed. Just apathetic. He’s not sad, just detached from the things around him. Except for Sora, the one constant in his life and the one thing that the blonde boy can always be sure of is his brother.

As the bell rings once more to signal the end of the period and the beginning of lunch, Roxas extracts himself from his seat slowly before making his way to the cafeteria. Once inside he quickly spots Sora sitting at one of the tables in the far corner of the room. A tall, lithe, platinum blonde man sits on his left. His aquamarine eyes scanning the room as Sora chatters on happily to the busty girl sitting on his right. The girl has shiny auburn hair that comes down to the middle of her back, her shoulders shake with laughter. The blonde spots Roxas and gives him a slight smile as he begins to make his way over to the table.

“Hey Riku,” Roxas greets the blonde that smiled at him as he takes a seat next to the taller man. “Hello, Roxas, how was class?” the two engage in polite small talk as they pick at their lunch, waiting for Sora to notice his brother’s presence. The brunette finishes telling the auburn-haired girl a very animated tale about how he chased down a stray dog on the beach before startling as he notices his brother on the other side of the table. “Roxas! Kairi, why didn’t you tell me Roxas came over?” he questions the girl as she laughs at him, waving him off due to his own obliviousness. Sora, Riku and Kairi have been best friends since what feels like forever. Meeting when the older two were in first grade and Kairi was in Kindergarten and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

The four enjoy the rest of the lunch hour together, however Roxas tends to speak only to Riku and Sora. Answering anything Kairi asks or says with only cold, one-word responses. Sora frowns at his brother every time this happens but never speaks up to him about. Kairi and Roxas used to be just as close as Sora and Riku but just after the two older boys started their freshman year that seemed to change, and the honey blonde boy grew cold and distant to the girl who had once been one of his best friends. Sora never pressed his younger brother on the issue, hoping that maybe one day it would revolve itself. However, it’s been nearly four years, and nothing seems to have changed between the two of them.

The rest of the week seems to pass by quickly and without incident. By Friday afternoon Sora and Roxas are laying side by side on the beach under their house, looking out at the setting sun in silence. A comfortable silence, like no words need be spoken, only both enjoying the presence of the other. As they make their way up the hill to head back home, Sora finds that he can no longer bite his tongue, sensing something is wrong with his little brother.

“What’s going on Rox? You seem, sad.” Roxas just shrugs at his brother and continues walking in silence. “Well, it’s your birthday soon! You’ll finally be seventeen, isn’t that something to be excited about?” Roxas sighs and stops in his tracks, turning to face his brother. “I love you, So, you know I do. But you also know I don’t care about birthdays anymore. They’ve all been shit for years so why would this one be any different?” Sora looks down at his feet, wringing his hands together in front of him. Roxas continues towards the front door, unlocking it before turning to the left to disable the security alarm his parents had had installed.

Although Destiny Islands is one of the safest towns in probably the whole world, Sora and Roxas’ parents wanted a security system put in place. Their father runs a fortune five hundred company and their mother is his secretary so the two of them are constantly away or out of the country. They just wanted a little reassurance that their boys would be safe.

Sora follows his brother into the house silently, taking Roxas’ backpack and his own and hanging them on the hooks laid in the wall by the front door. The brunette makes his way down to the kitchen as his brother places himself onto the black leather couch in the lounge room. “I’m gonna start dinner, do you want pasta or rice?” Roxas lifts his head to look at his brother, tilting his head as he thinks for a moment. “Pasta sounds good.” Sora nods and continues into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he begins pulling out ingredients to make a Carbonara. Busying himself with making dinner allows the Brunette to reflect on his brother’s words. He knows Roxas has had a hard time in high school and that it hit him hard when his best friend moved away in their last year of elementary, but that’s no reason to boycott his entire birthday.

The two boys eat their dinner together in relative silence before parting ways for the night, Roxas heading up to his bedroom carrying his laptop, and Sora sprawled out on the couch downstairs texting back and forth with Riku about their plans for the weekend as well as Sora’s own concerns about Roxas. The brunette hopes that maybe his best friend might be able to give some more insight as to what Roxas meant about all his birthday’s being shitty.

Rain falls in a darkened city, the skyline obscured by dense clouds as heavy footfalls run, splashing through the wet streets. Bloodied knuckles becoming white again as the rain washes away the thick red liquid. Panting, the tall, thin man leans himself against the front the door of an apartment building, fumbling in his pocket for the keys before hastily letting himself inside. As soon as he makes it up to the apartment, removing his long black trench coat a heavy fist connects with the side of his face. The man sees stars for a moment before squaring his shoulders.

“You’re late you little whore!” The words shouted mean nothing as the fist connects again, only this side the man feels the blow in his abdomen, his knees buckling beneath him as he pants. “When I tell you to be home at a certain time, I expect you to be!” Another blow lands squarely on the man’s pale jaw, knocking him onto his side. Blood welling in his mouth, he swallows, wincing at the metallic taste.

The much larger man above he continues to shout obscenities at him as he kicks him over and over in the back. “You’re so pathetic!” Another kick lands on the back of his head, his vision going blurry for a moment. He bites his lip to keep from crying out. Not wanting to give his assailant the satisfaction of hearing a cry of pain. The older man huffs and storms out of the apartment. The man on the floor curls into himself, hugging his thin legs to his chest as he tries to quell the pain.

Bringing himself up off the floor the lithe man stretches his thin body, joints popping as he reaches skyward before wiping blood from the side of his mouth with his thumb. Fiery red hair frames his face as piercing emerald eyes sweep the room to ensure the older man has well and truly left. The thin man strides towards one of the bedrooms, inside is nothing but a mattress on the floor and a phone charger plugged into the wall beside it. He opens his closet doors, a few more coats, shirts and a couple of pairs of jeans are hanging there. Pushing the clothes to the side he kneels on the ground before the closet. Feeling around for a loose floor board before pulling it up. Reaching into his jeans pocket he pulls out a wad of cash before throwing it into the hole and covering it once more.

As the red head lays himself onto his bed he pulls out his phone, making note of the amount of money he just placed in the hole and tallying it against the previous total before sighing to himself and falling asleep, exhausted and hurting, all he can dream of is a white shore line and sunshine smiling down at him.

 

 

 


	2. Through the Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor will I ever own Kingdom Hearts or it's characters. They belong to Square-Enix and Disney, I am just boring them for entertainment purposes. 
> 
> Trigger Warning: Physical Abuse, Implied Sexual Abuse

A bang echoes throughout the darkened apartment as the front door is barged open. Heavy boots stumble through the threshold, the door slamming back closed. The large man shadows in the doorway, eyes sweeping the room, searching for the redhead he had left on the floor hours ago. He makes his way over to the small bedroom where the sleeping redhead lay. Licking his chapped lips, he begins to unbuckle his belt as he opens the door and draws nearer to the sleeping figure.

The man removes his pants, his breathing becoming erratic, the stench of alcohol heavy in his breath and on his clothes. He kneels on the bare mattress baring the teens lithe body. Licking his lips once more he reaches out, pushing the youngers shirt up his abdomen with one hand as he reaches down to touch himself with the other.

The redhead startles awake, emerald eyes growing large before narrowing at the man. The pale skin of his abdomen already showing splotches of purple from the man’s earlier blows on his body. “You thought you’d only get off with a beating, huh?” the older man slurs, stumbling drunkenly towards the thinner of the two.

The redhead closes his eyes as the other man grasps a fistful of his hair. “You’re gonna do as I want. You chose to come here, remember?” The younger nods his head as best he can whilst its being held before another large, cold hand makes its way down his abdomen. He tries his best to escape into his own head as he hears the faint sound of his zipper being opened.

On the sunny islands, Sora and Riku stroll together along the beach. The shorter of the two smiling up at the taller. They had been spending more and more time together as of late. Sora was seeking Riku’s advice on how to throw an amazing birthday party for Roxas when he doesn’t even want one.

Riku glances down at Sora, bringing his right arm up to scratch the back of his head, dropping it quickly as he sees Sora’s eyes widen and focus the piece of his skin exposed when his shirt sleeve fell with the action. “Riku! Why didn’t you tell me you love someone?” Sora shouts, grabbing Riku’s arm and pushing his sleeve up to observe the deep red scar that lay there.

The brunette absently runs his fingers along the scar, feeling Riku shiver at the touch, he retracts just as quickly. “I’m sorry, does it hurt?” Riku laughs and shakes his head. Sora can be so naïve sometimes. “No, So, it doesn’t hurt that just tickled.” Sora beams back up at him, “so are you going to tell me who it is?” Riku just shakes his head, still smiling down at the other boy before continuing down the beach back towards Sora’s house.

From the balcony of the front bedroom, cerulean eyes focus on the two boys’ interaction on the shore. A smirk finds its way across thin lips as Roxas observes his older brother and his best friend. Although Sora can be quite oblivious to his surroundings, Roxas never thought it would take him this long to notice Riku’s scar.

Laughing to himself as he thinks back to all the times, they’ve all gone swimming together and Riku’s scar has been on full display the young blonde makes his way out of the room and downstairs towards the lounge room. Roxas smiles as he hears the front door open, his brother’s whining voice echoing throughout the house, “Rikuuu~ why won’t you tell me who she is?”. Roxas chokes a little on his own laughter, Riku turning to shoot a glare his way as he does. “It doesn’t matter Sora, it’s unrequited love anyway.” Sora pouts at his best friend, tilting his head as he thinks for a moment before his face lights up in what can only be described as a child’s level of excitement.

“Well, if you tell me who she is I can get her to fall in love with you!” the hyper boy exclaims as he jumps on the spot for a few moments, “you’re so handsome, and sweet and chivalrous. You always bake cookies with me and take care of me when I’m sick. I’m sure if I tell her all of that stuff, she’ll love you in no time!” Riku opens his mouth as if to speak before quickly turning on his heel and running back out the front door of the house, Sora takes off after him but Roxas steps in, holding his brother back. “What did I say?” Roxas glares in the direction Riku ran in as his brother chokes back a sob in his arms.

Turning his full attention to Sora, Roxas begins stroking his hair before guiding him down onto the black leather couch in the lounge room. He grabs the tissue box off the coffee table and hands it to his older brother. “Okay, what happened, So?” Sora hiccups a little in response at first before clearing his voice, recounting to his brother how he and Riku were just walking down the beach like they always do. He then told him about Riku’s scar and how he’d never seen it before and was just trying to help his best friend. Roxas looks at his brother sadly, knowing full well whom the object of Riku’s affections is.

“I-I just don’t understand why he doesn’t want to tell me. Is it Kairi? Does he think I’d be angry with him?” Sora glances up at Roxas, the last mists of the tears in his eyes. Roxas holds his brother tighter, stroking his hair once more, “no, Sora, I don’t think that’s why he won’t tell you”. Sora blinks at Roxas, clarity clearing its way over ocean blue eyes as they stare into Roxas’ own identical ones. “You know, don’t you?” Roxas nods his head slowly, Sora opens his mouth to ask who, his brother simply shaking his head at him. Sora sighs, standing up from the couch and brushing his hands on his black shorts. “Well, I’m just gonna have to go make him tell me.”

Not far from the McCartney boys house, the platinum blonde boy sits on the shore of the beach, the last dregs of daylight fading away behind the play island just beyond the horizon. The boy brings his knees to his chest, holding them tightly as his chest rises and falls rapidly with his erratic breathing. He can feel his heart beating against his ribs, as though it’s straining to leap out of his chest.

Riku had always hoped that his best friend would remain oblivious to the deep red scar that adorns the inside of his right tricep. Sighing he rests his left cheek on his knees as he watches the waves crash lazily against the shore before him. The steadily growing night seeming like a comforting presence. “Riku?” the boy looks behind him towards the voice that just said his name, finding Sora standing before him, smiling down at him.

“I know you don’t want me to know who you’re in love with, but I want you to know that I’ll love you no matter what, okay?” Riku stares up at the smiling brunette, his brow furrowing in confusion as he moves to bring himself into a standing position before the shorter boy. “I meant all of those things I said, you know. You really would be the best boyfriend in the world, and if you’re worried about me being lonely or angry don’t be.” Sora’s shoulders begin to shake, and he turns his head away from the blonde boy before him, quickly wiping hot tears away from his eyes before turning to beam his beautiful smile up at him once more.

Riku strides towards the beautiful brunette before him, “damn it, I can’t do this anymore.” He growls to himself as he wraps his arms around his best friend, bringing his face down closer to Sora’s, he firmly places his lips against the smaller boys. Blue eyes go wide before closing and reciprocating the kiss. Both boys flinch away from each other, Riku grabbing the top of his arm and crying out as searing pain rips through his scar as though it’s on fire. Sora clutches the side of his neck, crying out and falling onto Riku, Riku looks down at his arm shocked before removing Sora’s hand from his neck.

There, on perfectly tanned skin just above the smaller boy’s collar bone sits a thick black scar, now matching the one that sits in stark contrast against Riku’s own pale skin. Sora stares up at Riku for a moment before finding his voice, “how, how long?” Riku laughs at the shock in the brunette boy’s voice. “Since freshman year.” He chuckles as Sora’s eyes grow wider at the realisation that, not only had he not noticed his best friends scar for four years, but also that he hadn’t realised his best friend was in love with him for that long.

Roxas is sprawled on the couch, flipping through TV channels as the two older boys enter the house once more. He turns expecting to find Sora upset but instead drops the remote in his hand onto the floor at the sight of him. The sound of the remote hitting the carpet with a thud seems to echo throughout the room as Roxas stares at his brother, or more accurately his brother’s scar.

Riku intertwines his fingers with Sora’s as he turns to face the younger blonde. Worried about what Roxas’ reaction might be he finds himself shocked as the small boy launches himself over the couch, wrapping his arms around the two before him. Riku lets out a sigh of relief as Roxas steps back, smiling brightly for what feels like the first time in years. “Took you long enough, big brother.” He teases before taking off up the stairs as Sora’s face flushes scarlet and he begins to chase after his younger brother, screaming his name as he races to the top of the stairs.

Roxas slams his bedroom door closed, hastily locking it before laughing as he throws himself onto his bed. His phone begins to vibrate in his pocket, pulling it out he glances at the caller ID curiously, why the hell is Kairi calling him? The blonde deftly declines the call before rolling over and grabbing his laptop from his nightstand to do some last-minute homework before school tomorrow.

The following day at lunch Roxas makes his way towards his and Sora’s normal table in the cafeteria only to find three extra people seated before him. “Hayner, Pence, Olette! I thought you had a different lunch period to us?” The three teens before him smile, Hayner, captain of the school soccer team and Roxas’ friend since freshman year pushes his unruly dirty blonde hair out of his hazel eyes as he waves to the other boy. Pence, a heavyset boy with black hair but an amazing penchant for knowing anything and everything mimics Hayner’s same wave. Olette, the token girl of the group with mousey brown hair and green eyes rises from her seat, hugging Roxas quickly around the shoulders. “We switched out so we could have lunch with you, and Sora wanted us to be included for your birthday.”

Roxas glares at Sora, who smiles up at him sheepishly from his usual spot between Kairi and Riku, however today Riku has his arm firmly around Sora’s waist holding him close to his own body. At this moment Kairi jumps up, walking over to Roxas before lowering her voice so only he can hear her, “Roxas, I need to tell you something really important.” Her eyes look desperate but Roxas shrugs her off, “maybe another time, Kairi.” Roxas voice drips with venom as he says her name, taking a seat between his three friends and Riku. Kairi lowers her head and goes back to her lunch.

Roxas spends most of the lunch period ignoring those around him on the table. They keep trying to plan him some amazing party as if that’s going to make him forget the fact that his supposed best friend abandoned him on his birthday four years ago. It’s not that the boy hates his birthday, it’s that he hates the reminder every single year that no one will ever care about him enough not to leaver him. Except Sora, there will only ever be him and Sora. And he’s okay with that now, it’s easier that way, only having a few friends but keeping them at enough of a distance that it won’t hurt if they leave.

As everyone gets ready to head back to class, Roxas watches as Kairi grabs Sora, pulling him away and whispering something in his ear. Sora stares at her before whispering quietly back and receiving a nod in response from the auburn-haired girl. Roxas shrugs and makes his way to class, Sora will tell him eventually what that was about, and even then, it’s only Kairi.

Rain pelts heavily against the windows of the empty apartment, the lithe redhead boy opening the hole in his closet floor, stashing all the cash that lay beneath into a plain black backpack. Covering the money with what few clothes he owns he slings the bag across his back, lacing up his heavy black boots on his feet. He stands and pulls a black bandage from his pocket, expertly wrapping it around his left hand and up his arm, tying it off he stares blankly at the bare room before him before making his way out of the apartment.

Slinking through the shadows as he makes his way through the darkened city the redhead feels a spring make its way into his step. Rain pelts against the hood of his large black coat but he doesn’t care as he makes his way through the twisting streets of Hollow Bastion. The only thing on his mind now is that smiling sunshine from his dreams.

The tall man stops on a street corner, pausing to pull a pack of cigarettes out of his front pocket before placing one in his mouth and bringing a lighter up to light it. He inhales the thick smoke and smiles up at the station before, it’s been four years but he’s finally here and he’s finally got enough to leave this hell hole of a city. “I’m coming home.”


	3. A Welcome Surprise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I do not, nor will I ever own Kingdom Hearts or its characters. They belong to Square-Enix and Disney, I'm just boring them for entertainment purposes.
> 
> No Trigger Warnings apply for this chapter.

Sora is frantically running through the party supplies aisle at the supermarket, Riku panting as he tries to keep up with the hyper brunette. They had been out ever since school finished picking up everything that Sora needs for this to be Roxas’ “best birthday ever” according to Sora. Riku sighs as he pushes the cart behind the smaller boy. Sora finally finishes finding everything that he needs, and they make their way to the register.

“Thanks for driving Riku!” Sora smiles up at him as he places the bags into the boot of the car with all the others they had already filled and purchased. “Well it’s not like you could have carried all of this home.” Riku chuckles at Sora before placing a soft kiss against his forehead and stepping into the driver’s seat of the small white sedan.

Once back at the McCartney residence the two boys begin to unpack everything, Sora busying himself with cake mixes and icing sugar whilst Riku pulls out all the decorations, sitting them on the kitchen counter and turning his attention to the balloons that Sora requested be blown up.

Around one in the morning the two boys collapse onto Sora’s bed, Riku’s lungs burning from blowing up balloons for almost three straight hours whilst Sora prepared layer after layer of both white and chocolate cakes. “Oh! I forgot to organise music!” Sora exclaims, Riku groans and sits up next to him, “It’s fine So, just plug in my iPod, that’ll be fine.” Sora silences him with a finger pressed against his now pursed lips as the smaller boy whips out his phone and quickly calls someone.

“Hey Dem, I’m sorry it’s so late.” The brunette pauses in wait of a response. “Yeah, sorry I haven’t talked to you for a while but, it’s Roxas’ birthday tomorrow and…” Sora trails off as the voice on the other end of the line chatters happily at him. “You guys are the best! Thank you so much Dem!” Sora hangs up happily and curls himself up against Riku, the older raises an eyebrow at the smaller boy but chooses to keep quiet and accept the embrace, quickly falling into a deep sleep.

Kairi shivers on the doorstep, pulling a tan jacket tighter around her body as she checks her phone again. Sora told her to be here at five and it’s now five thirty, what is going on? The girl raises her head as she sees the light above the stairwell come on through the glass front door. Sora waves at her lazily from behind the glass. “Hey Kai, sorry Riku and I didn’t fall asleep until real late.” Kairi smiles, ruffling Sora’s hair and making her way past him and down the hall towards the kitchen and open dining/rumpus area where they would be setting up for the party.

“Kairi, what you told me yesterday, Roxas’ surprise, is it true?” Kairi turns towards Sora, pausing from her place on the step ladder as she hangs black and silver streamers from the ceiling. “Yeah, So, it’s true. He’s coming home. He’ll be on the last ferry back to the island tonight.” Kairi steps down from the ladder, hugging her best friend as tightly as she can muster. Tears of happiness well up in Sora’s eyes. Finally, something good, finally Roxas might stop being so distant with everyone but him. Only time will tell but Sora allows himself to remain hopeful, at least for now.

Roxas finally makes his way out of his room around midday, pausing on the stairs as he hears voices coming from the other end of the house. He stops as he rounds the corner and sees the kitchen/dining/rumpus area as well as the patio outside covered in black and silver streamers and balloons littering the ceiling and walls.

“What. The. Actual. Fuck.” Sora, Riku, Kairi and Olette pause in what they’re doing and turn to face him. Sora runs up towards his brother with a grin plastered across his face. “Happy Birthday Roxas!” Roxas glares at the other three still standing near the kitchen island before turning his glare on his brother. “I told you, birthdays suck and I don’t want a party.” The blonde boy deadpans before grabbing his house keys and earphones from the hall table, slipping on his vans and walking out the front door.

Sora stares after his brother dejectedly, “it’s okay Sora, he’ll come back later and everything will be great, okay?” Olette smiles at him reassuringly as she and Kairi return outside to continue wrapping more streams and balloons around the support beams for the patio. Sora sighs before making his way over to the fridge, pulling the cakes he made last night as well as the huge bowl of frosting out and placing them on the counter.

Sora is just piping the final little rosettes onto the pure white cake before him, six layers in total, when he feels strong arms wrap around his waist from behind. “Need a hand?” the brunette shivers as Riku’s hot breath touches his neck and ear as he speaks, placing the piping bag down he turns in the taller boy’s arms, wrapping his arms around Riku’s neck in the process. Riku leans in, capturing the smaller boy’s warm lips with his own, tightening his arms around Sora’s waist he lifts and gently places him on the counter beside the cake.

Sora giggles into the kiss, Riku’s always made him feel better when he was feeling down but now it seems to mean so much more. It seems to be as if Riku takes away all his pain and hurt and confusion. Riku breaks away, placing another small peck on Sora’s cheek. “I’m heading off to grab Dem and the others and help them with their gear, I’ll be back soon, okay?” Sora smiles and nods at Riku as he leans up to steal one last kiss from the taller boy before him.

After a few hours of wandering around the islands Roxas finds himself on the beach below his house. He sits down on the soft white sand, grabbing a handful and bringing it up towards his face before letting the grains run silently through his fingers. He just wants everyone to leave him alone today. Not make some big fuss about him turning another year older. Who cares anyway? It’s just another year, and it’s not like he can drink now, or anything so why does it matter. He lays down in the stand, staring up at the sky and wondering what his former best friend is doing right now today. He also wonders what he was doing this day four years ago. The day he left Roxas behind.

Roxas stays on the beach for what feels like the entire afternoon but rises from his position on the sand as he notices cars arriving at the house. He sighs, he probably really hurt Sora earlier. Shoving his hands into his pockets Roxas heads up the hill towards home, bracing himself to smile and enjoy the party his brother has organised for him.

A chorus of happy birthdays great Roxas as he steps through the front door. Music blaring loudly from the speakers in the kitchen catch his attention. He does his best to smile and wave and say hello and thank you to everyone as he makes his way towards the back of the house. He realises once he reaches the kitchen that it isn’t the speakers the music is coming from, but rather a band set up in his backyard.

Roxas smiles as he reaches the small riser that the band has set themselves up upon. The blonde mulleted guitarist stops dead when he sees him, grabbing the mic in front of him, “Roxas! Happy birthday! Long time no see, eh?” Roxas laughs at Demyx before stepping up onto the riser and pulling him in for a hug.

Looking at the other three band members the blonde realises that they’re all his old friends. Zexion, a quieter boy with long grey bordering on silver hair framing his face and covering one eye is playing the keyboard. Larxene who had been the only girl in their group held a bass against her slender body, two pieces of electric yellow hair framing her face. Luxord, one of the eldest out of all of them, a relatively large blonde man with a buzzcut and goatee was seated behind the drums.

In elementary school there had been a group of thirteen of them all ranging in ages, most have already graduated high school as Roxas had been the youngest of them. They called themselves “the Organisation”. The other band members wave at Roxas and wish him a happy birthday before Larxene begins impatiently strumming out the base line to Pet Sematary by The Ramones. Roxas smiles as Demyx’s attention is grabbed and he begins playing and singing along to the tune. Smiling all the while.

Sora bounds over to Roxas, laughing and grabbing his little brother’s hand, the two of them beginning dancing together as the band plays on behind them. Soon almost everyone is dancing and singing along as the band make their way through a rest of rock, pop and alternative songs. Roxas feels genuine happiness begin to well in his chest, tugging on Sora’s arm he pulls him away from the crowd and into the kitchen.

“What’s going on, Rox?” Sora asks as Roxas wraps his arms around him, pulling him in for an almost uncomfortable tight embrace. “Thank you, Sora, you’re the best big brother I could have ever asked for.” Out of the corner of his eye Roxas sees Kairi going around to everyone present and whispering something before pointing his way. He narrows his eyes in her direction, “Sora, what did Kairi tell you after lunch yesterday?” Sora laughs, scratching the back of his head, “n-nothing, nothing important anyway.” Roxas opens his mouth to press his brother further but is interrupted when Sora is pulled away by Olette and Pence.

“Happy Birthday, Rox.” Roxas turns to see Hayner standing behind him holding a small black box in his hands. “Thanks, Hayner.” Roxas takes the box that is offered to him, gasping when he opens it. Inside the box is a silver pendant, more of an x than a cross, and it looks sharp to the touch. Roxas gently removes the pendant, placing the now empty box on the kitchen counter, he holds the pendant out to Hayner who places it on him around his neck. The sleeves of Hayner’s long button up shirt brush up slightly revealing a littering of scars both black and red.

Roxas turns, hugging Hayner tightly. “It’s beautiful, thank you Hayner.” The other boy just smiles down at him before placing a soft kiss onto the top of his head. “Anything for you, Rox.” “Hayner, I-I can’t” the older blonde cuts him off by placing a finger against his mouth as he tries to speak, “I know Rox, I’ll always be waiting though.” Hayner winks at Roxas before being whisked away by Kairi, no doubt to whisper whatever it is that she’s been telling people all night to him.

Roxas watches intently as Kairi leans in to whisper her secret to Hayner but is caught off guard when the boy recoils away from her. Anger flashing across his face before he asks her something that looks almost desperate. Roxas makes his way over to the two of them, ready to tell Kairi to back off and leave Hayner alone.

“Don’t say that, Kairi. It’s not funny, it’ll break hi- “Hayner cuts himself short as he sees Roxas come to stand next to him. Composing himself he drapes one arm over Roxas’ shoulders, “Kairi was just telling me about her and Sora’s surprise present for you. Nothing to worry about Rox.” Hayner’s gaze doesn’t leave Kairi’s as he says this before turning his full attention towards Roxas. “Come on, it’s probably almost time for cake.” Kairi sighs in relief as the two boys wander back towards the kitchen.

As the band outside wraps up their rendition of Cut Up Angels by the Used, Roxas’ favourite song in honour of his birthday, Demyx announces for everyone to head inside for the cake. Sora slips into the large butler’s pantry for a moment before returning with a large, pure white cake decorated entirely with butter cream roses. Seventeen black candles stand out in stark contrast against the cake as everyone begins singing whilst he makes his way over to the island counter where Roxas is standing.

Roxas smiles as Sora drags out the last of the song before blowing out the candles. Walking around the counter he pulls his brother in for a hug as everyone cheers and continues to shout happy birthday around him. Sora grabs a knife from the knife block whilst Roxas posing with the cake, allowing Pence to get some pictures of not only Sora’s masterpiece but also Roxas smiling. Roxas takes the knife from his brother’s hand and begins to cut the first slice just as the doorbell rings. It takes Roxas a moment and a second ring of the doorbell to notice that no one is moving, he looks towards Sora who just shrugs at him.

Roxas sighs, “what do I have to do everything myself on my own birthday?” he jokes as everyone laughs and gestures him towards the door. Roxas shakes his honey blonde hair out of his eyes as he makes his way down towards the front door. The door bell chimes once more, “keep your pants on, I’m coming!” Roxas calls out, finally being able to make out a tall, thin figure standing in the shadows of the front porch. Just as Roxas reaches the front door, the stranger moves, removing their black hood from their face and triggering the security light. Roxas gasps and wrenches the door open, hot tears falling as he stares up at the final guest for the party.


	4. The Red and Black Wrapped Gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters. I'm sure we all know this by now.
> 
> Warning: Underage Drinking (just in case that bothers you).

Roxas blinks up through the tears at the boy, no, the man towering above him as he wrenches the door open. Standing a foot above him in height, a fiery red mane trailing down behind him, piercing cat like eyes stare right back at him as a wolfish grin spreads over the man’s face. Before he can realise what’s going on Roxas feels his feet leaving the ground as he’s picked up in what feels like the tightest, warmest embrace he’s ever felt in his life.

“Axel…” the name feels foreign as it falls from Roxas’ lips, a breathy sound as if it were a silent prayer. _It’s like my prayers have been answered_ Roxas shakes his head at the intrusive thought as he feels his feet land back on the ground and he steadies himself against the taller man, taking a step back to allow him to step into the house. “It’s been too long, Rox.” The redhead smiles at him as he removes his long black trench coat, draping it over the edge of the black leather couch separating the entry way from the lounge room.

Everyone at the other end of the house begins chattering once more as the two make their way up the hallway towards the rest of the party. Roxas keeps looking up at Axel as if the man will disappear if he takes his eyes off him for even a moment. Axel makes his way through the crowd with ease the moment he spots Auburn hair and a pink dress, wrapping his arms around Kairi. The much smaller girl returns the embrace warmly and Roxas can’t help but smile at the reunion between the two Flynn siblings.

“So, he’s back, huh?” Roxas turns towards Hayner, looking at him puzzled. Hayner’s expression is dark as he glares in Axel’s general direction. “I-I guess he is.” Roxas looks down at his hands, not knowing what to do or say. _Why is this so hard? It’s not like we were in love just friends._ It’s been four years since he’d last seen Axel. Everything feels foreign at this point, he has so many feelings and questions swirling around his brain. Why did he leave? Why didn’t he say goodbye?

Roxas continues to watch the redhead as he makes his way through the party, reuniting with all the people that he had left behind all those years ago. He notices that there is a black bandage wrapped around Axel’s left hand and arm. Maybe Hollow Bastion just has strange fashion choices but being here on the Islands there’s no way that Axel’s arm isn’t sweating underneath the thick material. _Or maybe he has something to hide._

Hayner gestures Roxas towards the dining table where a variety of different spirits, ciders and beers have been laid out. Courtesy of Riku and Demyx no doubt. Roxas smiles at Hayner as he hands him a large red cup, taking a sniff before deciding it smells like straight whiskey and downing the contents. Roxas keeps refilling his cup, using less and less coke as a mixer each time until he’s just drinking straight whiskey. At that point he feels lighter, but also all his questions for Axel continue to weigh on him. _Why did he leave me? Why do his beautiful eyes look so sad?_

“Why does he think he just wander back into your life anyway?” Hayner questions as he refills Roxas’ cup for him, not even bothering to try to get the other boy to slow down on his alcohol intake. “I dunno, kinda makes me mad.” _No, it doesn’t, I’m so happy he’s back I could cry._ Roxas slurs the words out as he finishes the cup in one big gulp. The small boy pushes himself off the wall he was leaning on and begins making his way out to the yard, the band starting up a cover of Champagne’s for Celebrating, I’ll have a Martini by Mayday Parade. _Fitting, considering it’s about leaving without a word._ Roxas tries to push his obtrusive thoughts out as he makes his way into the crowd singing along with Demyx and dancing with his other friends.

“You look like you’ve had a little too much, Rox.” Roxas feels a shiver run down his spine as the words are whispered into his ear. Turning to face Axel, still swaying to the beat of the song he leans forward, “you don’t get to tell me what to do” he slurs at the taller boy before pressing his hands against Axel’s chest and shoving him away, albeit weakly. Axel smiles down at him sadly, a pained look crossing his face before turning serious, “come on blondie, I’ll put you to bed.” Roxas wrenches himself away from Axel as the man tries to grab his arm. “No! You don’t get to tell me what to do!” _But the concern in your voice feels so nice._ Roxas shouts at the redhead. The band behind him comes to a halt as everyone turns to look at the two boys standing in the middle of the crowd.

“I’m just worried about you, Rox, you’re gonna have a killer headache in the morning.” The older boy tries to reason with him, but Roxas’ alcohol fuelled brain has other plans as he feels the words begin to pour out of his mouth. “You don’t get to be worried about me! You abandoned me! Fucking left me here without a god damned word! Don’t act like you care now! You can’t just come back here and pretend you weren’t gone for four fucking years!” _You don’t get to pretend that I wasn’t starting to fall in love with you when you ran away._ Axel looks back at him shocked before glancing down at his feet, guilt crossing his features plain as day.

Roxas turns on his heel and storms back inside the house, heading towards the stairs. Axel follows after him, faintly hearing Sora tell everyone the party’s over and to please leave. As Axel makes his way to the top of the stairs, he hears the click of the lock on the front bedroom door. Sighing he places his back against the door before sliding down to sit in front of it, knees drawn up to his chest. A few minutes pass and Axel hears Sora wishing everyone a goodnight at the door before the small boy’s footsteps can be heard trudging up the stairs.

Axel looks up as Sora reaches him, the brunette boy smiling down at him sadly. “He’s locked himself in his room again, huh?” Axel looks at him questioningly, Sora says it as if this is a regular occurrence and yet the older boy had never known Roxas to shut himself in his room let alone lock everyone else out of it. “You’ve been gone a while, Ax. He’s changed.” Sora comments as if reading his mind before gesturing for him to get up and follow him.

Axel seats himself on Sora’s desk chair as the brunette perches himself on the end of his bed. “He really has missed you, Ax, maybe a little too much.” Sora sighs wearily as he speaks, balling his hands into fists in his comforter. “How do I fix it, Sora? I-I never meant to hurt him when I left, the exact opposite actually.” Axel lets out a humourless laugh after he speaks, levelling his gaze with Sora’s. “You’ve gotta help me fix this, please.” Sora looks up at Axel, pausing for a moment before nodding his head in agreement. “Okay, I think I’ve got an idea.”

Roxas wakes to a stabbing pain behind his eyelids as sunlight blares down on him. Using his arm to shield his eyes from the offending light he reaches over to grab his phone from the night stand. The first thing to greet him on the screen is a text from Sora, “good morning cranky pants. Riku and I have some errands to run so Axel agreed to stick around and nurse you out of your hangover. Don’t be a dick. Just be grateful.” Roxas can’t help but smile at his brother’s message before sighing and sitting up out of his bed, feeling a satisfying pop in his shoulders he swings his legs over the side of the bed. The click of his bedroom door unlocking sounds almost deafening as he turns the handle, making his way out of the room and down the stairs towards the kitchen.

As Roxas makes his way into the kitchen he sees Axel’s beautiful, lanky figure hunched over the island counter from the barstool he’s seated on. The redhead turns at the sound of Roxas’ approach. Roxas casts his eyes downward as he continues to make his way into the kitchen, refusing to meet Axel’s gaze. He makes himself a cup of coffee before finally taking a seat next to the older boy. “Roxas?” the redhead asks as he turns towards the smaller boy. The blonde sighs as he fidgets with handle of his coffee mug, _if I don’t just talk to him this is going to take a lot longer than it needs to._

“H-Hi Axel, sorry about last night I was just r-really drunk and didn’t know what I was doing and- “the blonde trails off, refusing to look up into cat-like emerald eyes as he speaks,  
“bullshit.” The blonde jerks his head up at the response, finally looking at the older boy, seeing annoyance in his eyes. _Or is it sadness?_ The blonde continues to fidget with the mug in his hands, “I-I don’t know what you m-mean.” He replies to the red head, refusing to make eye contact as the taller boy rises from his stool, Roxas doing the same.

Axel steps forward, Roxas finds himself taking steps backwards before his back hits the wall, the redhead coming to stand in front of him placing one hand either side of the blonde’s shoulders, effectively caging him. _He’s so close I can almost feel him_ “I mean,” the redhead drawls out, Roxas can’t tell if he’s bored, annoyed or pissed, “that you avoided me most of the night and then exploded in my face when I was just trying to look after you. Yes, I was gone four years, but I thought that I’d at least get more than one word and a smile before you cut me out of your life.”

Roxas snaps his heads up at the red heads words, anger clouding both his vison and judgement. “I didn’t cut you out of my life! You cut me out of yours!” Axel winces at the words as the blonde finally looks up at him, staring him down with malice in his eyes, “Roxas, I never-“ “Bullshit! I wrote to you! I wrote you a letter every week and you never had the decency to write back! Don’t you dare say I cut you out of my life!” The blonde cuts the redhead off in a fury, there’s no way he’s going to let Axel twist the truth. Not about this. _Don’t look at me like I mean something to you._ Axel stares at him once more, this time the blonde sees hurt and confusion swirling in those beautiful emerald orbs _He’s not beautiful! He abandoned me!_

“L-letters?” the red head finally breathes the word out as if it’s a question, Roxas feels his anger rising back up his throat, words spewing out before he can stop himself. “Yes Axel! Letters! The letters we promised we would write to each other if ever you moved away with your dad! The letters I poured my heart and soul into only to have them ignored! By my best fucking friend at that!” Axel stands stunned in front of him, Roxas taking advantage of this to slip underneath one of Axel’s arms and run up the stairs. Axel finally turns around just as he hears a door upstairs slam. He looks longingly up towards the landing of the second floor.

If only Roxas knew that those letters were never received, and that Axel’s had never been sent. The red head sighs, running a hand through his hair as he fishes into the pocket of his jeans pulling out his cigarettes and lighter as he steps out the front door, closing it behind himself before taking a seat on the porch. Slim, nimble fingers pluck a cigarette out of the deck, placing it between pale lips before flicking to life the lighter in his other hand. The red head takes a drag, tilting his head back as he exhales. Thinking about the blonde upstairs and wishing that he would just come down and let him explain. Everything.

Upstairs the blonde was huddled on his bed, his small frame curled around his pillow. How could Axel come back and expect things to be normal? After all he was the one who never wrote back. _Or did he?_ Roxas sighed in frustration. After four years without contact no one can just go back to the way things were. _But he looked so sad._ No. It was Axel’s fault for not responding to him. Not talking to him. He had heard the front door close a few minutes ago so the red head must have left already. _Good riddance._ Roxas uncurled himself and headed back down the stairs with his head down. If he was so mad at the red head, then why was he so upset. _Because he’s still your best friend._ The blonde pauses on his way towards the kitchen as he sees red sitting on the front steps.

_Why is he still here?_ He squeaks a little as Axel gets up and turns around, stretching his arms above his head, his tight black t-shirt riding up to reveal a strip of pale skin dotted with splotches of purple. _Are those bruises?_ Axel drops his arms quickly when he sees Roxas staring at him through the glass, hurriedly pulling his shirt back down before turning and taking off down the path and towards the street. Roxas feels his feet pulling him towards the front door but it’s too late. The redhead is already gone, taking off down the street and away from the house. Roxas looks dejectedly towards the door before turning and heading towards the kitchen once more, Sora will be home soon so he needs to start on dinner, no doubt his brother will be hungry when he gets home.

“Roxy! I’m home!” Roxas turns his head towards the hall as he hears his brother call out to him, “In the kitchen! Dinner’s ready!” He returns before finishing dishing pasta into two bowls, spaghetti carbonara was always something that made him feel better. He was never sure why though. “Yum pasta!” Sora exclaims as he bounds towards one of the stools at the kitchen island, looking at the two bowls with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Did Axel leave already?” Roxas lets out a choked noise at the question, just staring at the two bowls in his hands as he moves to sit next to his brother, placing one of the bowls in front of Sora. “Roxas, where’s Axel?” the brunette presses further, ignoring the food in front of him for the first time in his life. “H-he had to leave, s-said he had something t-to do.” The blonde stammered out as he stabbed a forkful of pasta,  
“bullshit Roxas, the only thing he said he had to do today was catch up with you.” Sora replies in a spiteful tone, staring down his twin.

Roxas looks up at his brother, guilt all over his face. “I yelled at him, then I stormed upstairs, and he left. Happy now?” Roxas mumbles out before shoving pasta into his mouth, Sora still staring at him at all while. “Why did you yell at him? Didn’t you want him to explain why he didn’t write back?” Roxas lets out an agitated sigh as he pushes himself away from the counter, turning on his stool to face his brother. “He acted like he didn’t know about them Sora. Like he didn’t know I still cared about him. That I was trying to write to him for a whole year. I don’t need him anyway. I-I have other friends.”

“Then why do you look so sad Roxy?” Sora queries, reaching his hand out to touch his brother’s shoulder. Roxas feels his shoulders shake before hot tears begin to stream down his face. “Roxy?” Roxas shakes his head, pushing himself away from his brother and running up the stairs once more before locking himself in his room and curling up on his bed. _Why am I crying?_ _Why does this hurt so much?_ Roxas looks to the door as he hears Sora knocking, ignoring his brother and crying harder before finally drifting off into sleep’s sweet embrace.

On the other side of the islands, a dejected redhead is seen wandering the darkening streets, head down, pushing past people as he walks. He is moving slowly, not caring about his destination. A buzzing from his pocket causes the redhead to stop, sighing in frustration as he pulls his phone out. Kairi, seventeen missed calls. Displays on the LCD screen in his hand. Just below that another eleven from his mother. He turns on his heels, heading back home finally. If he doesn’t return soon, they’ll just keep calling him and probably end up sending a search party out to look for him.

No doubt Kairi’s already asked Sora and found out that he’s no longer at the twins’ residence. Axel can’t help the intrusive thoughts that swirl through his mind as he makes his way down the darkening streets of Destiny Islands towards his home. _Roxas doesn’t care anymore. You never should have come home. You would have been better off staying with him._ Axel feels himself beginning to shake as he makes his way up the driveway towards the front door. Why had he ever thought that coming back would be a good idea? Of course, it’s great to be reunited with his mom and sister, but the one thing he’d thought about for the last four years, the one thing that kept pushing him to make it back to Destiny Islands was Roxas. And now the small blonde didn’t even want to hear him out on his reasoning.

He was going to write to Roxas, they had promised each other after all, but when months went by without a word from his blonde friend, he thought that maybe Roxas had moved on. Forgotten about him. The redhead lets out another frustrated groan as he walks through his front door, he had gotten his hopes up when he saw Roxas in home room this morning. Let himself believe for a moment that the blonde boy cared that he had returned in some way shape or form. This afternoon however confirmed everything Axel had been thinking.

“Axel, honey? Is that you?” “Y-yeah mom, sorry for being home so late,” the redhead replies as he begins to slip his shoes off, hearing footsteps approaching from the living room he makes his way quickly upstairs to his bedroom. Locking the door behind him he makes his way over to the mirrored door of his closet. Crossing both arms over his torso the boy pulls his shirt off, wincing as his ribs stretch. He stands there, staring at his reflection, large patches of purple and yellow covering most of the pale skin of his torso. As he lets his eyes wander further down his reflection, he lingers on the scars on his hips that dip below the waist line of his jeans.

“Axel are you okay?” the redhead pulls himself out of his thoughts at his sisters voice, quickly yanking his shirt back over his head before unlocking and opening his door to reveal the much shorter redhead before him. “I’m fine Kairi, just peachy” he replies, his sister raising her eyebrows at his sarcastic tone. “What happened with Roxas?” the taller turns away, walking over to his bed, his mother hadn’t touched his room at all when he left, everything was exactly as he’d left it from the silly pictures he and Roxas had taken together pinned to the drawing board above his desk to the Nightmare Before Christmas bedspread. 

“Nothing happened.” Kairi winces at the hurt tone in her brother’s voice. Sora had text her hours ago to tell her that he and Roxas had had an argument but wasn’t able to tell her what it was about. “Axel, please, just talk to me.” “He hates me Kai, he thinks I forgot about him, that he sent me letters. But I never got them Kai. I-I I would h-have written him b-back if I had’ve.” The redhead feels tears stream down his face for the first time in years as his sister wraps her arms around him. Placing a delicate kiss into her brother’s soft hair Kairi shushes him softly as she holds him. She would never say it aloud, but she is grateful that he found his way back home.

He’s tried to hide the bruises since he got back two days ago but she and her mother had both noticed them and they know exactly who gave them to him. She holds Axel as he cries until he finally drifts off to sleep, “I love you Ax, I’ll make everything better” she whispers as she leaves her brothers room. Closing the door, she pulls out her phone to write a text to Sora. If anyone can fix Axel and Roxas’ friendship, it’s their siblings.

 


	5. Plan's in Motion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters, just borrowing.

The following school week passes without incident. Axel re-enrols at Destiny Islands High School, Roxas takes every precaution to avoid him. Sora and Kairi have spent the better part of the week sharing their concern for their siblings and trying to rope Riku into helping them in their plans but to no avail.

As the bell signals the end of the day and Sora steps out into the Friday afternoon sunshine, excited for the coming weekend, he’s surprised to see Axel standing on the front steps seemingly waiting for him. “Hey Ax, is everything okay?” Sora bounds happily over to the other boy, looking curiously at his bandaged left arm. “What’s up with the bandage, Ax? It’s hot as hell out here.” Axel places his arm behind his back, stepping closer to Sora, “doesn’t matter about that. I need to know what I can do to fix things with Roxas.” The brunette pouts up at the much taller redhead in response. “I’ll help you if you explain the bandage.” Sora beams up at Axel as the redhead shakes his head with a laugh, “okay Sora, I’ll let you in on my secret. We’ll go talk somewhere more private though.”

Sora and Axel find themselves in Axel’s childhood bedroom, Axel shutting the door gently behind them as Sora glances around the room at how little it’s changed. Axel lets out a heavy sigh as he begins to untwist the bandage from around his arm, revealing a large deep red scar that runs almost the length of his forearm. Sora gasps at the sight of the scar, “Axel, did you try to…?” the brunette trails off letting the words hang thick in the air. “No Sora, I didn’t try to kill myself. This is what happens when you try to ignore the existence of a scar like yours and the other person never receives any.” Sora reaches a hand up to gently brush across the jet-black scar sitting proudly above his collar bone. “Wait, what do you mean you ignored it? And the other person doesn’t have any scars? How would you know that?” Axel looks at Sora, trying to gauge whether he is this oblivious or is just trying to make him say it out loud.

Unfortunately for Axel, Sora is incredibly dense. Some might even say that Sora’s skull is the densest substance known to man at this very moment in time. “Let’s just say I’ve had this scar for more than a few years and a very reliable source has been keeping tabs on the person for me while I couldn’t.” Sora pauses, staring at the redhead’s scar as the gears behind his eyes work overtime, clicking and shifting into place. Axel could almost swear he heard a ding as the lightbulb in Sora’s head finally came on. Before Axel can say anything, further Sora has bounded out of the room, running down the hallway towards Kairi’s room whilst screaming her name.

The younger Flynn sibling opens her bedroom door, confused to hear her best friend screaming her name and is suddenly grabbed and dragged back into her room. Sora pushes her shoulders firmly to make her sit on the bed, taking a seat beside her as Axel strolls into the room, leaning himself against the open-door frame. “You knew Axel was in love with someone from the Islands and you never told me?” Sora eyes Kairi with more seriousness than she’s seen out of him for a long time, the girl glances up at her wearily, watching as he slowly nods her head before turning back towards her best friend. “Have you figured out who?” Kairi sighs as Sora shakes his head at her, bringing her hand up and smacking him across the back of the head.

“Ow Kai! What was that for?” Sora cries as he clutches his head, Kairi just laughs at him. “Jesus Sora, could you be any thicker?” Sora just looks up at the girl in bewilderment still not understanding why she wants him to guess or why she just hit him. “Do I honestly need to spell it out for you Sora?” the girl asks, an impatient tone crossing her voice as Sora slowly nods his head, looking down at her pale pink comforter rather than at her. “R-O-X-A-S. There, I spelt it out for you.” Sora looks up at Kairi, shock crossing his features before turning towards Axel who just scratches the back of his head and watches the brunette boy with a sheepish gaze.

“Okay, so we needed Roxas to forgive Axel, but now we also need to get him to fall in love with him?” Kairi and Axel begin laughing at the boy in unison as he looks between the two of them in bewilderment. “I guess you could put it that way, yes.” Axel comments as he walks towards Sora and his sister. “Okay! Let’s brainstorm then!” The three continue for most of the evening trying to formulate not only ways to get Axel and Roxas alone, but also a scenario in which forgiveness and love occur. Just as the three begin to lose hope that even the forgiveness portion of the equation will work Sora comes up with an idea so plainly simple that it just might.

Roxas lazily rolls out of bed, checking his phone to see that it’s only nine thirty in the morning. _A new record_ the blonde hums happily to himself as he makes his way down the stairs in nothing but his boxers, waltzing his way into the kitchen before grabbing a cup of coffee. The boy hears a low chuckle behind him and jumps in shock as he turns to look at the other person in his kitchen that he had been too oblivious to notice. “By all means Rox, carry on.” Axel drawls lazily as he allows his gaze to flicker up and down Roxas’ lithe form, trailing down his perfectly smooth, tanned torso towards the hem of his red boxers. “What the hell are you doing here, Axel?” Roxas glares at the sexy _he’s not sexy dammit_ redheaded boy that’s perched on one of his bar stools.

Just as Roxas asks the question he hears the front door be locked with a set of keys, peering down the hallway to see Kairi and Sora waving at him gleefully behind the glass. “Don’t bother looking for your keys to unlock it, or to try the back door. They’ve locked us in here until we sort our shit out.” Roxas looks at Axel in disbelief before shaking his head _of course Sora had to stick his nose in it_. Sighing Roxas finishes pouring himself a coffee, glancing at Axel as the redhead swallows thickly before turning his full attention to the younger blonde.

“Roxas, you just gotta talk to me, they’re not gonna let us get out of here if you don’t” Roxas can hear the frustration and tiredness in the other boy’s voice as he speaks. A small pain tugs in his chest at the sound of Axel’s voice _have I made him this sad?_ He finally allows himself to look at the redhead properly for the first time all week. _He really has changed_ he was no longer a skinny teenager, but now a man, still thin and a little lanky but now you could see the definition in the muscles of his arms and chest.

 _He’s beautiful_ Roxas can’t help but think, shaking his head at the intrusive thought. Not this again. He’d been through this with himself since Monday. He did not find Axel attractive. They just used to best friends. That’s all. _Then why do you want to reach out and touch him?_ The blonde is pulled from his own thoughts as the redhead opens his mouth to speak, “please Roxas, I don’t want to make this anymore painful than it already is.” All Roxas can do is nod in response, not trusting himself to speak, Axel sighs once more, a long, sad sigh. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t receive your letters. I thought you had forgotten about me. And when I saw you when I got here last weekend I got carried away. I thought you looked happy that I was back, and I thought maybe you did still care. I see now that I was wrong, and I promise. I-I’ll leave you alone. Y-you won’t ever h-have to speak to me again.” Roxas feels as if his heart is breaking as he watches the beautiful, _he’s not beautiful_ boy before him agonize over his words.

“Where did the bruises come from?” the blonde boy whispers the question, not quite wanting Axel to hear it and still not being ready to give the older boy an answer. Axel turns to look at Roxas with pain in his eyes, “I-it doesn’t matter. N-not your problem, right?” Axel responds before carefully standing up from his place on the bar stool and making his way to the door. Pounding against the door he yells out, “okay assholes! Let us leave! I promised I’ll leave him alone so I can go now rig- “his words are cut off by a small hand wrapping itself around his wrist. He looks back to see Roxas standing, no, crying before him. “Don’t leave. I n-never wanted you t-to leave the f-first time. W-why would I want that again?” He’s about to answer the boy before he inhales, beginning again. “W-where are the bruises f-from?” ocean blue eyes shine wet with tears as they lock with Axel’s own. Axel looks down, ashamed, not only for making the younger boy cry but also of the answer that he’s about to have to give.

“Rox, you know my dad was never the best guy…” he feels himself trailing off as Roxas’ eyes widen in shock at his words. Grunting as he feels himself be pushed forcefully to the ground. He’s about to complain when he feels the smaller boy’s body on top of his own, holding him tightly, so tightly he thinks he might cut off his oxygen. “I didn’t know you had tried to keep in touch, Rox. If I had, you know I would have responded to every single letter. B-but he told me you n-never wrote. H-he convinced me n-no one c-cared what happened to me. B-but I always t-thought of you Rox. Had h-hope that you would s-still want me to come back. J-just like we p-promised.” Axel buries his head in the crook of Roxas’ neck as the two boys cry together.

Roxas pulls back to look at the red head, a serious expression crossing his face. “Why didn’t you come home sooner? If he was hurting you?” “I couldn’t Rox, there were, reasons. So, I had to wait. For a while I thought maybe it was best if I didn’t come back. But all I could think of was coming home and seeing you, I…” Roxas stares at Axel as he lowers his head, his words trailing off before hanging in the air. “What was the reason you couldn’t come home?” Roxas eyes Axel curiously, not realising that he’s holding his breath as he awaits the older boy’s response. “It doesn’t matter anymore Rox, I’m home now. That’s all that matters.” Roxas nods his head slowly, “okay, I-I’m sorry that I was so angry at you and, I-I’m s-sorry for b-blaming you for so long.” Axel reaches up to catch a tear as it rolls slowly down Roxas’ cheek before wrapping his arms around the smaller boy, his heart racing as he finally gets to feel the boy who’s filled his every thought in his arms again.

As the two boys bring themselves up off the floor, Roxas reaches out grabbing Axel’s left forearm to haul him up off the floor. The black bandage unravelling in his hand as the older boy stands. Roxas can’t help the gasp that escapes his lips as he takes in Axel’s scar. He’d never seen one that large in all his life. “Who?” he feels the words fall from his lips before he can even think about them. _That wasn’t there before he left._ Roxas looks at Axel expectantly as he sighs, shoving the bandage into his back pocket. “It doesn’t matter, Roxas.” “That wasn’t there when you left here, why leave Hollow Bastion if you love someone that’s there?” Axel refuses to meet Roxas’ gaze, trying to discern whether Roxas is angry or just concerned by his flat tone of voice.

“It’s an old scar Rox, it just never changed.” Axel prays that the blonde will finally change the subject and be satisfied but the younger boy is persistent. “Then why is it that large of a scar? They don’t get that big for no reason. The largest one I’ve seen is Leon’s and that’s because he spent two years denying it was for Cloud.” Axel’s eyes widen in shock as Roxas spouts off the exact reason why the scars grow and yet the blonde boy still remains completely oblivious.

“You know, I thought maybe I could’ve gotten one of those for you when we were kids. Guess I was just an idiot.” Axel stares at Roxas in shock as the boy runs away, again, to the sanctuary that is his bedroom. “Roxas! Get back here! What does that even mean?!” Axel screams after him but to no avail, he turns his eyes down to his feet, taking in the sight of his thick black combat boots before turning to knock on the door. Sora and Kairi step out from around the corner, smiling at him expectantly. Axel just shakes his head as they unlock the door, recounting what had just occurred between him and the blonde.

Sora makes his way up to Roxas’ room after the Flynn siblings have left, gently tapping on the door before opening it to the sight of his brother culled up and crying on the bed. “Oh, Rox, what now?” The concern is evident in Sora’s voice as he makes his way over to Roxas, sitting gently next to him and placing a comforting hand on his back. “I-I always t-thought that m-maybe Axel was my s-soulmate and that’s w-why I didn’t have any s-scars. B-but I think I’m j-just d-defective.” Roxas sobs into his pillow as Sora continues to rub his back, “you’re not defective Roxy, what makes you think that?” “S-soulmates don’t get s-scars that grow that b-big for other p-people and I-I’ve n-never...” Sora pulls his brother into his arms, hushing him in quiet tones before pulling his phone from his pocket and texting Kairi what’s going on with Roxas. The two decide that maybe there is hope for their brother’s after all. But Sora decides that it must be Axel that tells Roxas how he feels and not anyone else. It’s going to be hard to convince Roxas Axel’s in love with him without explicitly telling him, but by God is Sora going to try.


End file.
